[ manilastandardtoday.com ] November 9, 2010
Megawide Construction Corp., the country’s leading residential construction company, is building a P1-billion pre-cast concrete facility in Taytay, Rizal in a bid to get a bigger share of the socialized and middle-income housing market.
Megawide chief executive Michael Cosiquien said in a press briefing that phase 1 of the project involves the construction of a plant with the capacity to build 30,000 pre-cast units annually.
Cosiquien said the billion-peso facility would enable the company to reduce construction time and cost, which would translate into the early turnover of the units to buyers and lower price of condominium units. Real estate developers will also be able to realize their income in a short period of time.
He said a 40-story building, which usually takes three to four years to be completed, could finished in two years because most of the structures are pre-fabricated.
Funding for the planned facility will mostly come from internally generated funds and borrowings. The company is also considering the possibility of conducting an initial public offering.
“With projects seeing no let-up, contracts are growing at a seemingly exponential rate so a major investment of this kind is only but prudent to meet the growing needs of the market we cater to,” Cosiquien said.
He said the housing backlog in the country stood at 4 million. The plant aims to build 1 million homes, which could generate several billions of pesos in revenues for the company moving.
Megaworld president Edgar Saavedra said company might also venture into other engineering projects, such as complex building parts, bridges, dams, airports and other construction and infrastructure projects.
“The current administration’s tack in encouraging big-ticket infrastructure to make up for the country’s backlog also sets a healthy climate for growth in the construction sector. This is something we would like to prepare for,” Saavedra said. Jenniffer B. Austria
_______________________________________________________________
